Customer Reviews

Parents' Guide to Storytelling

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I bought this book hoping for some basic tips and techniques to get me started on the path of storytelling to preschoolers and
elementary age children. Margaret Read MacDonald offers that and
much more. This professional storyteller, author and children's
librarian brings a wealth of knowledge by way of a PhD in folklore and more than 35 years of storytelling experience to
the fore in this engaging, highly readable book. This tiny volume is packed with encyclopedic-like wisdom. She includes dozens of actual stories, categorized by age of listener as well as type of tale, and offers practical suggestions on voice pitch, hand movements and facial expressions to help the novice storyteller bring the tale to life.

Best of all, she is so encouraging along the way, constantly
reassuring the reader that making up stories and/or retelling old favorites is a snap. If we follow her suggestions and practice, we'll be storytellers extraordinaire in no time. This book is an excellent resource for parents or caretakers who simply want to tell bedtime stories; but is also a wonderful introductory text for anyone wishing to embark on the path of professional storytelling.

The bibliography and additional suggested resources at the end of the book are invaluable.

If you have any interest in storytelling at all, this book is a must-have for your reference library.

I had purchased this book because I was looking for basic techniques on telling short stories. The majority of the book is stories with tips on telling those specific stories. I returned this book within 10 minutes of receiving it in the mail!

The art of storytelling is an essential, invaluable skill for any parent or grandparent wanting to entertain a child. With Margaret MacDonald's The Parents' Guide To Storytelling: How To Make Up New Stories And Retell Old Favorites, now any parent or grandparent can learn how to spellbind eager youngsters with stories and tales that will pass along family traditions, values, histories, as well as nurturing familial bonds and affectionate intimacies. The Parents' Guide To Storytelling offers a wealth of tips and techniques suitable for use with children of all ages in the telling of favorite nursery narratives, fingerplay stories, bedtime yarns, folktales, and more.